The Final Countdown
by Hevisaurus
Summary: Harry has finally destroyed the last Horcrux and he's found Voldemort. Feast your eyes on what could be their final confrontation.


Harry, Ron, and Hermione stood on the overgrown front lawn of the still intimidating Riddle House. Harry was preparing for his final confrontation with the villainous Lord Voldemort.

"Are you sure you want to do this alone?" Hermione asked, tightly clutching Ron's hand.

Harry swallowed loudly. "Yeah. I have to." He replied staring at the window of the lone room where a fire burned merrily. The cheerful glow was doing a good job of masking the evil that was surely being done within.

"Good luck, mate." Ron said, clapping his hand on Harry's shoulder.

Harry nodded his thanks and began the lonely walk to his almost certain doom. A strangled sob from Hermione made Harry pause, but he could not stop. Harry knew if he stopped, he would never start this walk again.

As Harry walked up the front steps he noticed that the door was slightly open. As if some one was…waiting for him. He slowly pushed the door open, aware that a Death Eater could be lurking in the darkness waiting to ambush him and remove the threat early.

Nobody was waiting in the inky blackness.

Harry quietly made his way up the stairs to the second floor, wand held tightly in his right hand. 'No sign of any Death Eaters or Nagini. Wormtail's not even sulking around. Something's not right here.' Harry thought, peering into each dark crevice he passed.

After what seemed like hours of walking, Harry finally reached the room that held the most powerful and evil wizard possibly of all time. Holding his wand in front of his chest, Harry kicked the door open.

"VOLDEMORT! I'M TAKING YOU DOWN!" Harry shouted, wand now held in front of him like a sword.

Voldemort was standing in front of the fire, back to Harry. At the sound of Harry's shout, Voldemort turned, a twisted smirk on his serpentine face. "Harry Potter. I have been expecting you."

Despite the fact that Voldemort appeared unarmed, Harry's grip on his wand did not falter. "What'd you mean you've been 'expecting me?' The only ones who knew I'd be coming here were Ron and Hermione. Have you been spying on us? If you have, then you must know by now that you're weak enough to be killed. AND YOU WILL BE!" Harry finished, his loud voice echoing in the large room.

Voldemort's smirk grew into a sick perversion of a smile and his eyes narrowed. "Must you yell? We happen to be the only ones in the room, whether you believe me or not. Are you attempting t let your friends know that you are still alive? You do not have to worry, they will be among the first to know when you die." Voldemort glanced at the grandfather clock on the far side of the room. His smile broadened, now showcasing his yellow teeth. "Twenty minutes." He announced matter of factly.

Harry's glare intensified. "What're you talking about? Twenty minutes until what? Your Death Eater minions come to kill me, Ron, and Hermione?"

Voldemort chuckled, a rough disturbing sound that seemed rusty from disuse. "My Death Eaters are not going to kill you. As a matter of fact, neither am I." Harry opened his mouth to question this revelation, but Voldemort cut him off. "I do not feel like explaining every thing to you. You will learn what I am talking about soon enough." Voldemort chuckled one more, this time the sound was stronger, as if he was getting used to the underused action. "Fifteen minutes." He almost sounded gleeful, if that was possible for the Dark Lord.

Harry's eyes grew wide with understanding. "You're just trying to buy yourself some time aren't you? IT'S NOT GOING TO WORK!"

"Again with the shouting." Voldemort muttered.

"Dumbledore told me once that he didn't think you had enough humanity left to feel pain, so you wouldn't know when a Horcrux was destroyed. I've destroyed the remaining five Horcruxes. You're weak enough to be killed. So stop trying to lengthen your time on Earth. It's over." Harry stared at Voldemort with hate filled eyes, his wand level with Voldemort's emaciated chest.

Near the end of Harry's speech, the twisted smile had finally dropped off Voldemort's face slipping into the angry frown Harry fully expected to see during the entire confrontation. For the third time that night, Voldemort's red eyes made their way to the clock. Whatever he saw made the smile come back to his once handsome face. "Ten minutes." Was Voldemort's simple response to Harry's announcement.

"What are you counting? What's wrong with you?" Harry demanded.

Voldemort chuckled again, this time it was bordering on maniacal laughter. "Are you telling me, young Potter, that in all the excitement of destroying my Horcruxes and finding me you have managed to forget what tonight is?" Voldemort asked.

Harry's response was nothing but a blank, confused stare.

"From your dumber than usual expression, I will take that as a 'yes, Lord Voldemort, I have no idea what you are talking about.' Since you are so dim, I guess I will be forced to tell you what we are on the eve of. Besides your utter destruction. It is nearly All Hallow's Eve. It is almost eighteen years past the date you nearly destroyed me. Sadly, for you and the rest of the wizarding world, you did not destroy me quite enough."

"What are you talking about? Even as a baby I managed to destroy you to the point where you were unable to have your own body for fourteen years! And now that I'm older and more powerful, I can take you down for good!" Harry said, his wand now aimed at Voldemort's forehead, in the same place where Harry's scar marred his own.

Voldemort did not chuckle this time in response to Harry's outrage. His response this time was a dark, powerful laugh. "Not only did I have the power to flee to safety, I had the power to do one last spell. Though its effects are not as instantaneous as the Killing Curse, I like it nonetheless." Voldemort told Harry, a satisfied smile on his thin face. "That scar is not just for decoration. Nor was it ever intended to be a way for you to see into my mind. It is not even a mark left on you by my failed Killing Curse. It is the lingering reminder of the spell I placed on you that night. I believe Muggles would use the phrase 'a ticking time bomb' to describe what type of spell I managed to cast on you. Of course, it does not tick; otherwise I would not get the satisfaction of this night."

"My scar is a…time bomb?" Harry's wand dropped down a few inches. "What do you mean it's a time bomb?"

"I figured you would manage to not only destroy my Horcruxes but you would also track me down to the home of my father. And I had the feeling that you would, without your even realizing it, get here on All Hallow's Eve eighteen years after that night. You do not get to be the most powerful dark wizard in existence without doing some planning." Voldemort's eyes again slid over to the clock. "And now your time is at last running out, Harry Potter." There was no mistaking it. This time Voldemort's voice was filled with glee. Glee and malice.

No doubt about it. Harry was confused, and Voldemort being enigmatic and slightly cheerful did not help. The cheerfulness made matters worse. "What're you talking about?"

"Ten."

"What does ten have to do with anything?"

"Nine."

"The Death Eaters really are coming, aren't they?"

"Eight."

"How is my scar a 'ticking time bomb?"

"Seven."

"Your face looks even more creepy when you smile."

"Six."

"Are you going to ask me for Halloween candy or something?"

"Five."

"Because I don't have any."

"Four."

"STOP COUNTING!"

"Three."

"Are you showing me how good you count?"

"Two."

"Really, why are you counting?"

Voldemort's smile now stretched across his entire face. "One."

"I still don't-" Harry suddenly got an intense headache. "W-what's going on?" Harry sank to his knees in pain.

Voldemort once again began his evil, maniacal laughter. Harry fell to the floor and began twitching. Then with a loud explosion and a flare of bright green light, Harry Potter, the supposed savior of the wizarding world, imploded.

Voldemort stopped laughing and glanced around the room, clearly embarrassed. He strode to the still opened door and stuck his head into the hallway. "Alright, guys. Party time!" He shouted. From all corners of the house, Death Eaters poured into the room, most wearing festive party hats on top of their hoods.

One probably, Lucius Malfoy, walked up to Voldemort and bowed low before questioning him. "My Lord, are we going to commence our attacks on the rest of the wizarding world tonight?"

Voldemort took a long look around the room before answering him. There was Severus in the corner tormenting Wormtail, Fenrir getting drunk and staring hungrily at Draco, and Narcissa and Bellatrix arguing over the last cookie. Everyone seemed to be having an excellent time. "No." He replied. "Tonight, we party." Voldemort nodded decisively before strolling over to the punch and pouring himself a glass.

Ron and Hermione still stood on the lawn staring up at the window. "So…sudden green light and loud talking, good or bad?" Ron asked.

"Erm…I don't know." Replied Hermione.

"Well, Harry still hasn't come out, and he didn't exactly say we had to stay here…" Ron trailed off.

"Ronald! Harry is our best friend! We can't just abandon him here!" Hermione said, outraged.

"But, I was going to go get some ice cream. On our way here I saw an ice cream store that was open all night." Ron sheepishly told her.

Hermione silently contemplated this for a few seconds. "Harry can find us." She and Ron skipped off into the darkness.

The next day Voldemort and his Death Eaters took over the wizarding world. The following day they took over the rest of the world with little to no resistance. Both worlds were ruled tyrannically for all time.

THE END!


End file.
